I’ve been enjoying this recent trend of sequels getting released decades after the original. Obviously, it’s a way for a studio to cash in on existing IP by reminding fans of something they love, exploiting that nostalgia and then wringing it out for every dollar they can find. Still, I find a certain comfort in […]
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Eat Your Heart Out
Oregon filmmaker Taylor Morden levels up
I first met Oregon-based filmmaker Taylor Morden when he was directing the documentary, “The Last Blockbuster,” and he interviewed me about my deep and abiding love of physical media. Since then, Morden has been busy. Among other projects, he has made “Unstuffed” (a documentary about Build-a-Bear), “Getting Lost” (a doc focused on the cultural footprint […]
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Art vs. Commerce
Or how Wile E. Coyote took on a tax credit
So far, our fall movie season has delivered a few genuine surprises in terms of quality, with even more promising releases looming on the horizon. Usually at this point in the year, theatrical releases are a hodgepodge of quality, as studios continue to prove they rarely know how to market their own movies, let alone […]
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Don’t Forget to Visit the Art House
A couple of indies worth your time
Now that we’ve reached the tentative end of the 2026 summer blockbuster season, it’s time to rejoice that “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” and “The Odyssey” made billions at the box office. Movie theaters might just be safe for the foreseeable future. However, wrapped inside that rejoicing is room to lament that so many indie and […]
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Sex, Drugs and Dinosaurs
An August movie roundup
With the release of “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” on July 31, we have officially left behind the Summer Blockbuster season and are now entering that nebulous August/September space where studios and streamers throw everything at the multiplex wall just to see what sticks. It’s not quite prestige, Oscar-bait season yet, so whatever movies you end […]
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The Peter Problem
“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” is a Marvel of human emotion
What makes Spider-Man the greatest superhero of all-time isn’t his ability to swing through New York City on sticky webs shot from his wrists, nor is it how he protects humanity from villains like Green Goblin and The Vulture. I mean, those feats are certainly impressive, but what makes Spider-Man the absolute best is his […]
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The Millennium Approaches
Angels in America comes to the Greenhouse Cabaret
Countless words have been written about what constitutes the “Great American Novel” and what that phrase even means given the vast breadth of literature published in the United States over the last few centuries. My own rubric has always been that the work must capture something quintessential—not just about life in America, but something profound […]
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A Social Battery Recharge
A few choices to stream at home this week
I’m not sure if everyone feels this way, but as much as I love going to the theater to watch new movies, my social battery is sometimes completely exhausted by the time Friday rolls around. My heart wants to spend a few hours in a room full of strangers, but my spirit just wants to […]
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Practical Magic
Nolan’s “The Odyssey” updates and enriches the epic poem
It’s deeply frustrating to be a film critic in the midst of an endless, exhausting culture war. The moment casting choices were announced for Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of Homer’s “The Odyssey,” Earth’s first trillionaire tweeted that the filmmaker had “lost his integrity” by casting Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy. Predictably, the conservative half of […]
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An Awkward Dinner, Demi-gods and the Unquiet Dead
A very strange triple feature
When I go to the theater, I’m rarely there for just a single movie. I spend an inordinate amount of my life in dark rooms, staring at giant screens alongside strangers, all hoping to be transported out of the mundanity of existence. I think ultimately we all want to enter worlds that make us feel […]
